Chapter Text
178. (prompt by Cheryl_and_Liz)
They approached the base quietly and Sam felt his heart pound inside his chest.
Being in the military had always been his dream, but after his last mission – after losing his best friend – he had become somewhat disillusioned by the institution he had sworn to serve. While he still wanted to help his fellow soldiers, which was why he was working at the VA, it wasn’t the same. However, he did miss the sense of accomplishment his former job had given him. He had been doing important work, serving his country. Now… Now he felt like he was putting out small fires that would start up again the moment his back was turned. The people who came to the counselling sessions often seemed broken, or like they had given up. Sure, there were those who seemed to benefit from the work he did, but a lot of them… Sam just didn’t know. He didn’t know if he was making a difference at all, and it made him feel useless in a way that he hated.
And then… Then he had met Steve Rogers. Captain America. The real deal. The hero from World War II, from the comic books Sam had read as kid. His hero, in flesh and blood, right in front of him – and looking just as lost as Sam himself felt most of the time.
Except that Steve wasn’t giving up. He wasn’t just sulking about feeling sorry for himself; he was still hanging on, still being kind and optimistic. Still fighting, both metaphorically and literally. There was an assassin trying to kill him, and a murder plot that endangered the whole country, and Steve was rallying up to fight it despite the shitty odds against him.
So how could Sam not do the same? For the first time in a long time, Sam had a purpose – he would help Steve save the world from Hydra. He would put on the Falcon suit again and go back to the days when he mattered. He would take to the air once more to serve and protect, as he had sworn to do.
Even if he had to… liberate… the suit from the Air Force in order to do it.
The Air Force wasn’t using it, after all. Not since the mission that had cost Riley’s life.
Sam hadn’t been able to do anything for his best friend then, but he could do something now. He could prove to himself that he wasn’t defeated, that he still had what it took to be a hero.
He would help Steve and redeem himself for his failure with Riley.
At least, that had been the plan.
They got inside the facility easily enough by climbing over a wall – Natasha was a lot more athletic than she looked, and made it without much effort. Sam wasn’t quite as good, but Steve was able to give him a leg up, and they got to the other side.
There weren’t a lot of guards, since it wasn’t a very high profile base, housing mostly equipment and vehicles, most of them already decommissioned, so evading the scattered patrols was simple enough. The problem was getting inside the warehouses where the Wings were kept. First, Sam wasn’t sure in which of the three they were. Second, all of them had an electronic lock to prevent unauthorized access, and they didn’t have the codes or a key.
“I can disable the lock,” Natasha said, and took out a small kit from… somewhere on her person. “Keep a lookout.”
Sam and Steve did so, pressing themselves against the entrance to make sure they wouldn’t be spotted and watching for anyone approaching.
There was a click, and the light on the lock went from red to green, and they slipped in.
“Any idea which of these crates is the right one?” Steve asked, and Sam shook his head. There were some which were too small to contain the wings, but that only eliminated a few. And he couldn’t even be sure it was the right warehouse. He could only hope luck would be on their side.
“There should be a label or something,” he said.
The three of them fawned out and began looking for the Wings designation.
“Here, I think I found it,” Steve called.
Sam jogged over to where his friend was and nodded. “Yeah, that’s it.”
“Great, let’s get it out of the crate and go.”
They had barely got the crate open when they heard voices coming from the door.
“Whoever you are, come out with your hands in the air. You’re trespassing on military property,” someone shouted.
“Just put it on and let’s get out of here,” Steve told him, a hint of impatience and worry in his tone.
“Yeah, yeah,” Sam said, and hauled the wings out of the box with effort. Damn, he’d forgotten how heavy they were to drag around when deactivated.
Before he could even get them in the proper position, they were surrounded by soldiers with guns pointed at them.
“On the ground, hands behind your heads! Now!” One of the soldiers said.
“Look, we don’t have time to argue with you,” Steve said, trying to be conciliatory. “This is a matter of life and death. We need this equipment.”
The soldiers didn’t seem impressed. “This equipment doesn’t belong to you, so I really don’t care what you need it for. Now get down on your knees and put your hands behind your heads.”
Faster than Sam could see, Natasha moved, knocking two of the guards down.
“Freeze or I’ll shoot!”
Steve also began to move, shoving the nearest soldier away from him and into the men next to him. “Let’s go!” he yelled.
Sam stood frozen in place, unsure what to do.
Suddenly this whole thing seemed like a really bad idea.
Oh god, what am I doing?
A shot rang out and shook Sam from his paralysis. Instead of fighting – which would have been incredibly stupid – Sam dropped to his knees and put his hands up.
“No, stop, don’t shoot!” he cried. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt!”
God, he didn’t. What the hell had he been thinking? Was he really going to steal the Falcon Wings? What the hell was wrong with him?
Around him, the fighting continued. Steve knocked down two more soldiers, and another one shot him in the leg. Steve grunted, but the injury didn’t slow him down much.
“Nat! We have to go!” he yelled. There was another shot, and more cries of pain, and Sam ducked down to avoid a box that came flying in his direction.
“Steve, stop!”
His scream had no effect, however. In another couple of minutes, all soldiers were down. Natasha’s left arm was bleeding, and she was holding a gun with the right.
“We need to get out of here.”
“Sam, come on!” Steve said.
But Sam couldn’t move. He looked at the bodies on the floor and wondered how badly hurt they were. Were any of them dead? Had Steve and Natasha just killed soldiers who were just doing their jobs? What the fuck were they doing here? What the fuck were they doing at all?
“Sam!”
Sam shook his head, still in shock, then there were more footsteps running into the room, more voices.
Steve gave him a last disappointed look, and ran. Sam heard more bodies hitting the floor, more shots fired, and each sound made him flinch.
Oh god, what have I done?
He stayed where he was until the guards came for him. He didn’t resist as he was handcuffed and yanked none too gently to the door. More and more soldiers appeared to care for their injured brothers, shouting for a doctor, and Sam watched it all through blurry eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said, though he wasn’t sure if anyone heard him. “I’m sorry. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
He ended up in a small room, cuffed to the table with an armed guard standing beside him looking grim. Sam kept trying to think of something to say, yet nothing seemed enough. What could he possibly say to justify what they’d done? What the fuck had he been thinking?
Did he really need to be a hero so badly? Was he really that selfish? That egotistical? That delusional?
God, how could he have been so stupid?
Finally, a man with a colonel insignia entered the room. He looked furious but still in control, and Sam cringed when the man turned his gaze on Sam.
“Name,” the man demanded.
“Sgt Sam Wilson, sir,” he said, voice cracking. God, he had never felt so ashamed of himself as he did right now.
“Well, Sgt Wilson,” the Colonel said, with sarcastic emphasis on his rank, “would you care to explain what you are doing here? And who your accomplices are?”
“I…” He swallowed hard. “Are the soldiers okay? Was anyone hurt?” he asked instead, dreading the answer.
The Colonel raised an eyebrow. “Oh, now you’re concerned for their well-being?”
Sam shrank back at that piercing glare. “I’m sorry, Sir. No one was supposed to get hurt. I didn’t mean…” he trailed off at the unimpressed look from the Colonel. What did it matter what his intentions had been, if people had been seriously wounded? Or worse, killed?
Oh, god…
“What did you want?” the Colonel asked again, and Sam told him. With tears streaming down his face, he told him everything.
“So what you’re telling me is that, faced with a supposed threat to national security, you and your accomplices thought breaking into a military facility to steal the Falcon Wings was the best strategy? So that the three of you – and only the three of you – could handle it? Is that what you’re telling me, Sergeant?”
“I…” When he put it like that, it really sounded ridiculous, didn’t it? Why hadn’t Sam seen it before? “We didn’t know who to trust… Who could be Hydra…” It was a feeble justification, he realized. Steve had made it sound so easy back at the apartment, but… well, what were the three of them going to do anyway? Infiltrate the Hellicarriers all by themselves and… what? Take them down? How? They didn’t even know what Hydra’s ultimate plan was, beyond that it involved Project Insight somehow. “I’m sorry,” he said, well aware of how stupid the words were.
The Colonel shook his head and left the room. Sam could do nothing but sit there and regret every single action he’d taken since opening his door this morning. Why had he been so eager to help Steve? Why had he been so eager to steal military equipment? Just because he’d used the Wings didn’t mean they belonged to him. Steve hadn’t known anything about them. If Sam hadn’t mentioned it, they would have never come here. No one would have been hurt (killed?). He would not be sitting in a detention cell, cuffed to a table, waiting to be arrested on no doubt multiple charges. He could have stayed home and avoided all this. He could have simply given Steve some advice, or maybe suggested someone to get in touch with regarding the Hydra threat. He could have done any number of things that would have been better than the absolute insanity of the last few hours. He should have known better. He should… He should have stayed out of it altogether.
Who the hell did he think he was?
God, what is wrong with me?
But it was too late now.
An undetermined amount of time later, another man in a Colonel’s uniform entered the room and looked Sam up and down with disdain.
“Tell me everything you know about this supposed threat, Sergeant, and make it fast.”
Sam swallowed hard once again and told the man everything Steve had told him about SHIELD and Hydra, the secret base at Camp Lehigh, Project Insight and the Winter Soldier assassin who was after Steve and who knew how many others.
“What is Rogers and Romanoff’s plan?” The Colonel asked, once Sam had finished his explanation.
“I don’t know. They were going to find a SHIELD agent called Sitwell – who is probably Hydra – and get information from him.”
“Where?”
Sam could only shrug. “Somewhere in DC.” He wished he had more to say – anything to try to mitigate his mistake in coming here and getting involved in this mess – but there was nothing else.
Still, the Colonel didn’t seem convinced at that, and continued to ask questions about not just Hydra, but about Steve and Natasha as well.
“I swear I’ve told you everything. I don’t know Natasha, I just met her today.” And wasn’t that crazy? God, Sam was such an idiot.
By the look on the Colonel’s face, he thought so too. “And what about Rogers?”
“I… He’s… He’s Captain America.” The moment the words left his mouth he wanted to take them back. Now he could see how utterly ridiculous that was as a justification for anything. Clearly Sam had let himself get too caught up in the legend – and in comic books – and forgot that fiction was not reality. He forgot that, in the here and now, that really… didn’t mean much. Captain America had been one soldier fighting in a middle of a world war – a war that had ended almost seventy years ago. That didn’t mean he would have any idea how to deal with modern warfare (and, in fact, given what little Sam had observed, the man wasn’t entirely up to date on any current matters, including the geopolitical situation of the post-Cold War world). It didn’t mean Steve knew how to be a soldier today, acting domestically (or even internationally). The fact that he (and Natasha) had attacked the base guards was proof of that. Had the man not realized that they weren’t the enemy?
Dear Lord, what have I done?
The more he thought about the entire situation, the more Sam cringed inside (and outside, under the Colonel’s relentless glare) – and the more he wished he could just crawl into a hole and disappear. Or maybe just erase this accursed day completely and start all over again (with better choices, of course).
Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option, and Sam could do nothing but sit with his regrets when he was transferred to a military holding cell. His one consolation was that he was finally told that there had been no casualties among the fallen soldiers, though some had sustained serious injuries.
He had no idea what was going on outside for days; didn’t know if Steve had been captured (either by the military, SHIELD of Hydra), if Hydra’s plan (whatever it was) had been stopped, or even what was being done about any of it. And why should he, really? He was nothing. A nobody. Just a lowly sergeant. He wasn’t a hero, and he wasn’t going to be.
He would be lucky if he got out of this without a prison sentence.
He did get a lawyer, though – which was something. Unfortunately, the woman refused to share any news about Steve, saying that it would only hurt his case. Sam wasn’t sure about that, but he had learned his lesson and was going to let the professionals handle it.
Because he hadn’t actually stolen anything, hadn’t participated in the fight and had done his best to cooperate, Ms Cooper was able to get him off with only a dishonorable discharge and a hefty fine (which would put Sam in a rather uncomfortable financial situation, especially considering he had also lost his pension). Still, it was better than prison, so he couldn’t complain too much.
The worst part was having to face his mother when she showed up to take him home. He couldn’t look her in the eye, he felt so ashamed. In fact, he wasn’t sure how he would ever show his face anywhere again.
Perhaps even worse was finding out what had happened. Steve and Natasha had indeed been apprehended not long after Sam himself, and taken to a high security facility. The Hydra threat never actually materialized because the Pentagon called in Tony Stark, who was able to disable Hydra’s systems without leaving the comfort of his home. The investigation into who was involved in Hydra, and all the crimes they might have committed was ongoing, but there had been surprisingly little bloodshed. The Winter Soldier, who was revealed to be an American soldier brainwashed into working for Hydra, managed to break free from his conditioning and killed Alexander Pierce before committing suicide.
Steve, Natasha and Sam were utterly irrelevant in saving the day, and while Sam was able to escape more or less unscathed, the same could not be said for the other two. Natasha was eventually deported to Russian to serve her sentence for numerous crimes (many of those uncovered during the Hydra investigation). Steve was convicted of several counts of assault and sentenced to 10 years, but he refused to accept the verdict and tried to escape, assaulting more people in the process. He was killed by a sniper just as he left the courthouse.
*
179. (prompt by Marie_Nomad, VeraNera, Princessunicornblue)
Sharon waited in the car, wondering for the millionth time if she was doing the right thing. Her rational mind kept telling her to turn back now, that she really shouldn’t be involved in this anymore, that she had already done quite enough. The emotional part, however, still clung to the idea that this was what Aunt Peggy would have wanted, and Sharon felt honor-bound to follow that.
All through her childhood, Peggy had told her stories about Steve Rogers; about how good and wonderful he was (and handsome too, of course). That he was a hero, the kind that didn’t really exist anymore. He was just and smart, and always prepared to do the right thing no matter the cost. Peggy had spoken of him as if he was perfect, and even though Sharon knew rationally that he couldn’t be – no one was – she had still believed.
When she had first met him in person, planted as a neighbor by SHIELD to keep an eye on him after he’d moved to DC following the New York invasion, she had seen him exactly as Aunt Peggy had described. It had been hard to maintain her professionalism and not gush all over him, but she had managed.
The aftermath of the Hydra disaster had been a bit harder to swallow, but she’d clung to the belief that he’d done what needed to be done. It didn’t erase the deaths and destruction, but there were casualties in every war, and one simply had to accept that sometimes you just couldn’t save everyone. That was a lesson Aunt Peggy had taught her too.
God, Sharon missed her. These last few years, when her health had steadily declined, had been hard. The last time Sharon had visited, several months ago, Aunt Peggy hadn’t recognized her at all. She’d smiled and nodded as Sharon talked, but Sharon could tell that it just an empty gesture. Aunt Peggy was no longer there.
In that sense, her death hadn’t been a surprise – in a way, perhaps it was a relief, Sharon had thought. Peggy had been gone for some time, and now they could finally put her body to rest and begin to mourn her properly.
It was hard, though. It was hard to truly let go, and Sharon wanted desperately to have Aunt Peggy back, so she could get some advice.
The worlds Sharon had spoken at the memorial echoed in her head. Plant yourself like a tree and tell the world to move. It sounded good, didn’t it? A sign of strength, of steadfastness. Here is my place, and I will not be pushed aside. Peggy had no doubt had to fight for her place every step of the way. To fight against the Nazis, and all manner of threats like Hydra and the Commies and whatever else. And, on top of that, fight her colleagues, who refused to see her value. Even now, Sharon knew that struggle; to be taken seriously by men who felt threatened by any woman who didn’t immediately bend to them. It was exhausting.
Steve had taken Peggy seriously. Steve had seen Peggy’s value, and had trusted her to have his back. And that was what Sharon wanted to do now. She wanted to have his back, his trust – and his admiration.
But should she really be helping him? The Hydra situation had been a mess, but everyone had scrambled to do something about it without much time for strategy. Project Insight had to be stopped and Hydra had to be exposed. Perhaps the way it had actually been done had been less than ideal, but it was the best that could be done under the circumstances and the time constraints.
Now, however… Had this latest disaster been avoidable? There had been a lot of casualties, and it was a little harder to think that it had been justified.
Sharon had hoped that Steve would find Barnes before the Task Force, and whisk the other man away to deal with him in private. She had hoped that Steve would have been able to reach him somehow, and derail the Winter Soldier before any more deaths could happen.
That hadn’t been the case at all, however, and the end result had been a deadly fight and chase through the city that had brought more chaos and more death. It didn’t sit well with her that she had been at least partly responsible for that mess by giving Steve information that, in retrospect, she shouldn’t have. She had told him that the Task Force had orders to shoot to kill, yet that hadn’t happened, and she wasn’t sure if it was because they had changed their minds (which didn’t make much sense), or if she had somehow been mistaken. Regardless, Barnes was alive and well, but many officers from the Task Force, as well as innocent civilians, were not.
It was, in short, a complete clusterfuck.
To make matters worse, Barnes had managed to escape from the holding facility in Berlin – killing even more people in the process. Steve had called her to ask for help (again) and she had reluctantly agreed because he’d told her that there was something else going on, another threat that needed the Avengers’ attention.
So here she was, having smuggled Steve’s shield and the Falcon Wings out of the facility in order to return them to him. However, she was starting to have second thoughts. She wasn’t sure this was the right thing to do anymore. She wasn’t sure she believed Steve about this supposed threat – and she wasn’t sure if she should be helping him even if he was right about this. Steve wasn’t thinking clearly, he was too focused on keeping Barnes safe. Sharon didn’t know whether the bombing had been Barnes’s doing or not, but at this point it really didn’t matter. The dead were dead either way – and Barnes was a threat all by himself either way too.
Was this really the best time to have his back? To trust Steve? So far he hadn’t exactly earned that trust – not when it came to anything concerning Barnes (or not concerning him, given his apparent disregard for anyone else).
What was she supposed to do, though? If she wasn’t going to help Steve, then she had to convince him to turn himself and Barnes in. She had to convince him to let someone else deal with this threat. She had to convince him to stand down, and that was something he wasn’t likely to do.
Aunt Peggy had always said that Steve wasn’t the type to back down; that he never gave up, even when the odds were against him. Sharon had always admired that – had always tried to emulate it – but now it would be a problem. It had already been a problem, given what had happened with the Task Force.
She hadn’t yet made a decision or came up with any kind of plan when Steve showed up, Barnes and Wilson in tow. He smiled at her and it made her weak in the knees. Damn, he was handsome. But she had to focus. She had to remember what was at stake here, what her job was.
She had to figure out where her loyalties should really lie. With Steve, or with the best interest of the public? Were those two as mutually exclusive as she was beginning to suspect?
Aunt Peggy had told her Steve was a hero. Was he? Was he really? In this specific instance, was he acting for the good of the world, or for his own selfish motives? Was keeping Barnes out of prison really the best course of action? Brainwashed or not, Barnes had done a lot of terrible things, and the victims of his crimes deserved justice. Perhaps Barnes could point to the actual perpetrators if he was questioned, the ones who had given him orders that he’d had no choice but to obey. Perhaps with his help the high-ups at Hydra who had escaped before could finally be brought to justice.
Had Steve considered that at all? Did he care?
Sharon wanted to believe what Aunt Peggy had said about him, that of course he did. However, she had to admit that there hadn’t been much evidence of that so far.
“Steve,” she said. “This has become too big a mess, and I think–”
“I really appreciate you helping us,” he interrupted her. “These Accords can’t be trusted.”
Sharon frowned. “Steve, the Accords have nothing to do with this–”
He shook his head. “All they care about is control. We can’t let the Avengers become someone’s attack dog.”
“That’s not–”
“Bucky isn’t to blame for any of this.”
“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean–”
“It’s that doctor from the UN. They can’t be trusted, Sharon,” he repeated, as if that alone was enough of an argument.
“What are you talking about?”
He only shook his head again. “I don’t have time to explain everything. We’ll take care of it from here. Thank you again. This is what Peggy would have done.”
Sharon pursed her lips. Maybe a few minutes ago, she would have been pleased to hear that. Now, however, it sounded hollow.
“Steve…”
“You remind me of her, you know,” he continued, expression becoming soft. He gazed into her eyes, and Sharon felt her heart pound in her chest as he leaned down to kiss her.
It should have elated her. It should have made her squeal like a little girl. She had spent hours in her youth staring at Steve’s photograph and wondering what it would be like to be with him. Hell, she had dreamed of him, being taken in his arms and literally swept off her feet.
But right now, she was just… uncomfortable.
It wasn’t her he was kissing. It was Aunt Peggy.
Steve didn’t care about her. He’d barely given her the time of day when they’d met before. She had just been a SHIELD agent like all the others. What made her memorable now was her connection to Peggy. That was when he had actually begun to look at her.
Look at her, yes, but not see her. She wasn’t Sharon to him, she was just… an extension of Peggy. His last chance to be with her, in fact, since she was now truly dead and gone.
Sharon felt frozen in place, shaken by the realization that she had been a fool. A silly romantic fool. She had behaved like a schoolgirl with a crush, and the thought made her want to curl up in shame and weep.
God, how could she had been so stupid? Was she really so naïve and gullible? Did she really care so much about a man she didn’t even know just because he was handsome?
All her training, all the sweat and tears to get where she was, to be taken seriously, and she had tossed it all down the drain because of a pair of baby blue eyes and a well-defined body. God…
It was all she could do not to recoil in disgust – at herself and at him.
When Steve pulled away, she thought she heard him mumble Peggy’s name, and it made her want to cry.
God, she was such an idiot.
More than that, Steve was a fucking creep. He had used her – was using her – and she had let him. He didn’t give two fucks about her – or about anyone that wasn’t Barnes, apparently – and she hadn’t seen it. She had been too blinded by her childhood adoration, and had left common sense behind.
She took a deep breath and stepped back, away from him.
She needed to think. She needed to stop him, because he sure as hell wasn’t going to stop on his own.
“Pe– Sharon?” Steve asked, and Sharon did her best to pull herself together. Funny, he didn’t look so handsome anymore. “Did you get the shield and the Falcon wings?”
Of course, that was all he cared about.
“No,” she lied. “There was too much security. I couldn’t get them.”
Steve frowned. “When you called you said you had them.”
She clenched her jaw. “I thought I’d be able to get them, but…” She shrugged. “I’m sorry.”
The look he gave her was a mixture of disappointment and condescension, and it grated on her already frayed nerves. “It’s all right. I’m sure you did your best.”
“Where are you going now? If you tell me your plan, maybe I can help.”
He did. His plan was basically to steal the Avengers’s quinjet once the reinforcements he had called came in. Sharon nodded, memorized everything and told him she might be able to smuggle him into the airport.
As soon as she was out of his hearing range, she called her superiors and told them everything.
There was a team ready to intercept Barton and Maximoff when they got off their plane, and Stark and the rest of the Avengers didn’t waste time trying to talk Rogers down; they simply sedated everyone and shipped them back to the UN facility, now behind now in actual cells.
Sharon sighed in relief when she heard the news, though there was a slight issue when Prince T’Challa tried to kill Barnes again. Stark had to blast him off the man, who was then removed by his security guards. Barnes spilled the beans about the other possible Winter Soldiers and the Avengers went off to check on it.
They returned with the fake doctor, a man named Helmut Zemo. He had a tape with him that clearly showed that the Winter Soldier had murdered Howard and Maria Stark. Tony Stark marched into Rogers’s cell and demanded to know if the man had known about it. Sharon, watching from the corridor, felt all the admiration she had ever felt for Steve Rogers disappear when he confessed that he had indeed suspected.
God, how could she have been so wrong about him?
“You’re not the man I thought you were, Steve,” she told him later.
“Sharon, please. It’s not Bucky’s fault. You have to help me. Help him.”
“He tried to kill me, you know,” she said, expression hard. “Not that you care. But don’t worry. Your precious friend is in no danger right now. He’ll have his day in court. You should be more concerned about yourself. Things are not looking good for you.” With a last disgusted look, she walked away.
Much later, she talked to her parents about everything that had happened, and her mom shook her head sadly.
“Peggy filled your head with all that crap, Sharon. You really should have known better.”
Sharon shrank away from the disappointment in her mother’s voice.
And she knew she deserved it. She would have to do better from now on.
*
180. (prompts by FictionWriter09, VeraNera, TooLazyToWriteOne, Kayasurin, SayraTasnim, Kuramas_Kat, Capricious_T, closetgeek2000, Arrowman, AgentofLADON)
(AN: This snippet, unlike all the others, spans several movies. I wanted to end with a Tony POV, so I went over the list and used as many prompts as I could fit into a single narrative. It gets progressive more AU as it goes, though I still tried to keep some canon elements needed to fill the prompts.)
Coming back from Afghanistan had not been easy. Aside from the trauma (which Tony tried very hard to ignore even though he knew he shouldn’t), there was also the whole ‘becoming Iron Man’ thing to deal with. Tony really hadn’t set up to become a superhero (hell, he didn’t think he was one, really); all he’d wanted to do was make sure his weapons wouldn’t be misused anymore. To try to make up for his carelessness and stupidity. To protect those who needed to be protected, whether they were innocent civilians caught in the crossfire or his closest friends.
Still, he couldn’t deny that being Iron Man was a rush. Like driving his fastest car, or going on an engineering binge when he was in the zone – only a hundred times better.
Except for the part about how the suit was killing him, of course.
Well, it wasn’t the suit, exactly, but the arc reactor that powered it. The thing that was supposed to save his like was slowly poisoning from the inside out. How was that for irony?
So, yeah, not easy. He was dying and couldn’t figure out a way out. He couldn’t tell his friends because they would freak out, and then Tony would freak out too (more than he already was), and then nothing would get done. He really didn’t want to spend his last days dealing with his friends’ pitying looks and teary eyes.
It was pity that he was dying now, when it seemed like he had finally figured out what he should actually do with his life.
Tony didn’t consider himself defeated yet, but he had to admit that it was getting harder and harder to keep a positive outlook when test after test failed, and the toxicity levels continued to climb day after day.
It was time for contingency plans.
Giving Pepper the company was the first order of business, because she was the only one he could trust. It was a lot to put on her, he knew, but there was no one else. He could hope that she wouldn’t hate him too much once she realized he wasn’t going to be around to cheer her on for long.
When she came over with the notary to sign the transfer papers, Tony considered telling her. He considered it every day, in fact, and always chickened out. Today was no different.
He kept up their banter with some difficulty, preoccupied with everything else he needed to do. The woman she brought was a distraction, and Tony pulled up some info on her just for something to do – because it was what he usually did. The pictures were a bit much, though.
“What’s this?” he asked, unable to keep the thought from spilling out (his brain to mouth filter had never been the best, unless he was actively trying, and he wasn’t at the moment). “Who the hell puts underwear model photos on a resume for a fucking tech company?” He glanced over at Pepper. “Are you trying to make me jealous or something? Is this some test?”
“What?” Pepper seemed confused, and leaned over to look at the display. She pursed her lips, then turned her gaze to Ms Rushman, who was in the rink with Happy. “That seems fishy. I’ll get someone to look into it.” She sighed and made a note in her pad.
“You okay, Pep?” Tony asked, taking in how tired she looked.
“There’s just a lot to do, Tony.”
He winced a little. “Sorry.”
She gave him a small smile. “It’s all right. Once everything is finalized, it will get easier.”
“Sure,” he replied, though he knew it wouldn’t. Not if he actually died.
A startled grunt made them look over to the rink to find Happy on the ground and Ms Rushman standing over him, a slight smirk on her face. Tony and Pepper exchanged glances.
Yeah, whoever that woman was, she had to go.
A couple of days later, when he and Pepper got to Monaco, Pepper had a new (and hopefully legit) assistance while SI security worked on figuring out who Rushman was and who she worked for. To allay suspicions, however, she hadn’t been fired yet, simply moved somewhere with less sensitive information available (and under covert surveillance).
Tony knew driving the SI racing car himself was stupid, but what the hell, right? He might not be long for this world, and he wanted some excitement to combat the dread he’d been experiencing.
Of course that was the perfect opportunity for some whacko to show up and try to kill him. Tony would be more bothered if he wasn’t dying already. Honestly, it was exhausting.
What he really wanted to do was cancel the birthday party and just lie in bed all day, but it was too late for that now. It would attract too much attention to himself, and that was something he was trying to avoid.
Later, though, he realized that getting drunk and starting a fight with Rhodey was not the way to avoid attention. That goddam palladium was really doing a number on him.
Still, at least he got to pass Rhodey the suit baton, so to speak. It wasn’t the best way to go about it, sure, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
And then, of course, fucking SHIELD showed up. Because his day really couldn’t get any worse. First Fury and his stupid little games, then fucking Rushman – or Romanoff, or whatever her name was – trying to jab him with something. Thank fuck Fury announced it first, which gave Tony enough time to dodge her.
“What the fuck is that? Are you trying to drug me?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at the woman, who was really pushing it with the skintight catsuit. Did she really think he was that stupid? That he was going to lose his mind over her? Tony liked sex as much as the next guy, yeah, but he could still retain his higher brain function in the presence of a beautiful woman. How did she even breathe properly in that thing?
“We’re trying to help you,” Fury said.
“Yeah? I don’t remember asking for your help,” Tony snapped back. “And injecting someone with something against their will and without their consent its assault. So touch me and I’ll blast the shit out of you and file charges later.” The last was directed at Romanoff, who glared at him, but slid back into the booth next to Fury without another word. “Also, you’re really fired.” This time she smirked, as if he’d said something funny. Yeah, Tony was gonna stop playing nice very soon.
“We know about your… problem,” she said. “This,” she held up the syringe, “would alleviate your symptoms.”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you’re a doctor now too?” Jarvis scanned the contents of the vial and relayed his findings through the earpiece Tony was wearing. “Well, give my thanks to the scientists who actually did the work. I’ll decide whether or not I want to take it, thanks.” He stood. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have better things to do too.” Without another word, he stood and walked out. He heard Fury calling after him, and turned back just long enough to give him the finger before flying back home.
He had work to do.
Unfortunately, SHIELD didn’t seem to get the memo, and that Coulson guy showed up a couple of hours later with a box of stuff.
“What the hell are you doing here? Give me one reason why I shouldn’t call the cops right now.”
Coulson’s unimpressed expression didn’t change, and Tony wanted to bash his bland face into the floor. “All communications with the outside world has been disabled.”
“I’m sorry, what? Who the fuck do you think you are?” Tony was really losing his patience here.
Coulson ignored him and continued. “I’ve been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?”
For a moment, Tony could only stare. Had he really heard what he thought he’d heard? Really?
“Okay, you know what? I’m done. Fuck you. If you and your little goons are not out of my house in two minutes I’m going to knock you all down and deliver you to the nearest police station trussed up like a Christmas turkey. Hell, I’ll call some buddies at the FBI too if I have to.” Tony walked up to Coulson and glared at the man until he took a small step backwards. “Maybe you’re used to being able to intimidate people, but you messed with the wrong person today. I gave you some leeway because you helped Pepper with that mess with Obie a while back, but you’ve just lost all brownie points from here to eternity. You don’t get to come into my house and threaten me, do you understand? You don’t get to tell me you’re going to tase me – I have a heart condition, remember that? Do you want to actually kill me? – like I’m an annoyance to you.” His voice got harder and harder with each word, and he saw the moment Coulson realized he had crossed the line.
“Mr Stark–” he tried, hands up in a placating gesture.
“Shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear another word out of your mouth. I don’t want to see you ever again. I don’t want you anywhere near Pepper, or my company, or anything related to me in any way, shape or form. You have one minute.”
This time, Coulson listened. He called his minions and they left.
“Jarvis? You all right, buddy?”
“Yes, Sir. Their so-called disabling was only temporary. I was already back online, but thought it best to let them believe they had succeeded.”
“Make sure to flag each and every one of those bastards and keep an eye on them. Call Pepper and tell her to go ahead and remove Romanoff. Oh, and let her know Coulson is now persona non grata.”
“Of course, Sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Tony sighed and shook his head. “Is SHIELD’s formula effective?”
“It does appear as if it might be able to diminish the symptoms, at least for a short time.”
“Right. Well, I don’t want to be beholden to those fuckers for anything. We can figure shit out ourselves.”
“I hope so, Sir.”
Tony went to the lab and stared at the walls for a few minutes, feeling exhausted. There had to be a way out of this.
If he’d tried every combination and every permutation of every known element, then it was time to reach for the unknown.
What if he made an element?
“Jarvis, what kind of properties would we need in an element to replace the palladium? Can we synthesize something that will work?”
“I’ll need a few hours to run an analysis, Sir.”
Tony nodded. Yeah, he could do this.
And fuck SHIELD. He didn’t need them.
It took a lot of time and effort, but Tony was ultimately successful. His new element was exactly what he needed, and Tony got to save the day at the Expo when Vanko turned out to be less dead than previously believed – and working with fucking Hammer, of all people. Romanoff managed to make herself a little useful. Tony could have handled it himself, but he could admit that her intervention to retake control of War Machine helped.
Once it was all said and done – and Tony finally came clean to Pepper and Rhodey, getting quite a (deserved) talking to for keeping secrets – Fury decided to show up again.
Tony had to give it to the guy, he didn’t give up easily. And while that could be a virtue, Tony was mostly getting fed up with the whole thing. The only reason he agreed to meet with Fury was so that he could make it absolutely clear (once and for all, hopefully) that SHIELD had better leave him alone from now on.
Fury, however, was not done with the mind games. The report he left at the table for Tony to read was… well, pathetic was the nicest word that came to mind. Not to mention Romanoff’s so-called assessment. The woman couldn’t assess her way out of a paper bag.
Avengers Initiative. What the fuck was that supposed to be? And Iron Man yes, Tony Stark not recommended? Really? God saved him from idiots…
“Really?” Tony asked, tossing the file back on the table nonchalantly.
“At this juncture we’d only like to use you as a consultant,” Fury said, and Tony laughed.
He stood and put a hand on Fury’s shoulder. “You can’t afford me.” He began to walk out, then turned back, expression hard. “I’m not interested in your little boy band, or in SHIELD in general. I don’t want you near me or mine. I have given you and your agents as many chances as I’m willing to. Next time you piss me off, you will not come out unscathed. So listen to me carefully, Fury: We. Are. Done.” He made sure to enunciate every word carefully. “You really don’t want to make an enemy out of me. People who threaten me tend to end up dead. You know, like Obie and Vanko. It would be a shame if you were to join that little list.”
Tony didn’t bother to wait for a reply. He had more important things to do.
It would have been really great if that had been the end of it, but of course Tony’s luck wasn’t that great. At least the next time SHIELD came around, Fury actually called ahead and pretty much begged for a meeting. Tony had to admit he was curious about the thinly disguised desperation in Fury’s voice, so he agreed to allow Coulson to come to the Tower.
And yeah, a potential alien invasion was reason for concern.
Still, the information on the team SHIELD was putting together to deal with it was less than reassuring. Steve fucking Rogers, really? Christ on a stick. And Romanoff again, oh joy. At least Dr Banner seemed like an interesting guy.
He got a call from Fury the next day that Loki, the alien who had stolen the tesseract and blown up a SHIELD facility, had been located in Germany. Tony arrived just as Rogers was getting his ass kicked – and Tony would admit to a little glee at that. To be honest, Tony didn’t actually know shit about Rogers except for what his dad used to say – and he took that with an enormous grain of salt. Dad had always made the man sound like a saint, so Tony hated him on principle. No one was that perfect, and the goody-two-shoes attitude got on his nerves.
They ended up bringing another alien to SHIELD’s hellicarrier – this one a big blond buff who looked like he spent all day at the gym admiring himself.
Things went even more downhill from there. Rogers turned out to be a huge dick (not that Tony was surprised) and SHIELD was (of course) trying to make weapons out of alien tech. Tony would have had a lot more to say on those two subjects, but the hellicarrier was attacked and he had to make sure the damn thing didn’t crash into the ocean and kill everyone.
Unfortunately, while he was able to keep the hellicarrier in the air, Coulson fought Loki and lost. Tony didn’t like the agent, but that didn’t mean he wanted the man dead.
“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them.” Fury tossed a pack of Captain America trading cards on the table. There was blood on them. Steve picked them with a grimace. “We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.”
Steve clenched his jaw, looking at the bloody cards.
“Oh, please, spare me the manipulation spiel,” Tony said. He put his hands on the table and leaned over to make eye contact with Fury. “I didn’t want in on your boy band then, and I sure as hell don’t want in now. I’m a consultant, remember? And, believe me, that is just fine by me. I’m only here because the situation is urgent. I don’t trust any of you as far as I can throw you. You want to sit here and fell sorry for yourself so you can rally the troops, such as they are? Be my guest. If you have something concrete, let me know. I’ll be doing something actually productive. Because if you think we can deal with this just half a dozen people – and this bunch, no less – you’re out of your mind.”
Tony needed a couple of minutes to get the suit ready to fly again, and then he was gone.
Now that he had a better idea of what he was dealing with, he called Rhodey. It was high time for the military to get involved.
By the time the alien ships began pouring out of the sky, there were already jets in the air trying to contain them. The problem, of course, was taking down the ships in the middle of fucking New York without racking up a huge casualty number. Tony did what he could, but it was still quite a mess.
Hulk showed up and was a big help (as was Thor), but Rogers, Romanoff and some guy with a freaking bow and arrow of all things were basically just there to look pretty. Rogers kept trying to tell Tony what to do – as if that guy had any standing to be giving anyone orders – and was summarily ignored.
What they really needed, though, was to close the portal. So Tony went back to the machine, trying to figure out how to shut it down.
“Jarvis, any ideas?”
“I’m afraid not, Sir.”
A sound made Tony turn, weapons ready, but it was only Dr Selvig, clutching his head in pain.
“Loki’s scepter, the energy… the Tesseract can’t fight. You can’t protect against yourself.”
Tony’s eyes widened. “You’re saying the scepter can get through the force field?”
Selvig nodded. “Yeah, and I’m looking right at it.”
Tony followed his line of sight and saw it. He flew down and retrieved it. Finally, they could end this.
“Sir, Director Fury is trying to reach you. He says it’s urgent.”
Inside the helmet, Tony couldn’t help rolling his eyes. “Isn’t it always?” he muttered. “Fine, put him through.”
“Stark! There’s a nuke heading for the city!”
“What?”
“The World Security Council panicked. I tried to stop it, but the plane got off the hellicarrier before I could take it down.”
Tony wished he could say he was surprised. Yet one more reason to despise SHIELD.
“Yeah, I’m on it,” he replied with a heavy sigh. “And I can close the portal. Tell those idiots to stand the fuck down.” Then he contacted the Colonel who was overseeing the jets to explain the situation.
“A nuke? Are you serious? That’s…” The man had no words, and Tony could well imagine the look of flabbergasted anger on his face. “If we take it down, we risk a detonation.”
Tony looked at the portal. “I know. I guess we’ll have to redirected it instead. Stand by. As soon as the nuke is through the portal, we’ll close it. You’ll have to take care of the remaining ships.”
“Mr Stark…”
“Gotta go.” With a deep breath, he turned to Selvig. “I need you to close the portal.” He told Selvig about the nuke and his plan for what to do with it. “Can you do it?”
“Ye- yes.” Selvig took the scepter in shaking hands and faced the portal. “I’ll be ready.”
It was easy enough to grab the nuke and carry it to the portal. Once he was sure the trajectory was right, he fell back and watched from a safe distance. Selvig closed the portal, and that was that. Tony didn’t get to see if the nuke hit anything on the other side, but that all right. He would have enough nightmares already without adding a possibly exploding space armada to the list.
Once the portal was closed, all the remaining ships seemed to lose power, and the aliens just dropped dead. Tony wasn’t sure if that was because the mothership (or whatever was out there) had been destroyed by the nuke or if the connection had simply been cut along with the portal. Either way, it was very convenient, and for once Tony wasn’t going to complain.
The Army, Air Force and police took over the post-battle cleanup, while Tony had to deal with SHIELD.
A few hours later, he delivered a smashed Loki to Thor, who was down in the street along with Rogers, Romanoff and Barton (and a disheveled Bruce).
“What about the Tesseract?” the blond asked.
“It belongs to SHIELD,” Romanoff said.
“So they can make weapons? I don’t think so.” Tony shook his head and handed the case with the cube to Thor. “You take it. And the scepter too.” The sooner all these things left Earth the happier he would be.
Rogers looked like he might want to argue about it, but Thor had already taken everything with a nod of thanks. He pulled some… manacles and a gag?... out of thin air and used them to restrain Loki. Then he put the Tesseract in some weird contraption and was gone within moments.
“Right, I guess that’s it, then,” Tony said. “Tell Fury I’ll send him the bill sometime next week.”
“What bill?” Rogers asked.
“My consultant fee. That’s what I am, remember? A consultant.” He smirked at the outraged look in Romanoff’s and Barton’s faces. It was almost a shame he wouldn’t get to see Fury’s reaction. Maybe he could hack into SHIELD’s security cameras.
Yeah, he really didn’t want to miss that moment.
Tony didn’t think more of SHIELD after that, busy with other things. As such, he was only peripherally aware of the investigation going on into the agency. He was interviewed by the investigative team, of course, and told them everything he knew. It wasn’t his place to do anything more, and he was just fine with that.
Yet another nutcase with a grudge showed up to try to kill him, and Tony had to deal with exploding people, of all things. Plus a threat to Pepper, which he couldn’t ignore.
Fortunately, it all ended up well enough. The bad guy died, Pepper was cured and Tony was finally able to remove the arc reactor from his chest. Win all around, as far as he was concerned.
He was still recovering when the news started talking about the dismantling of SHIELD – and Hydra, who was apparently still around plotting world domination. Tony rolled his eyes at the TV and went back to his projects, not paying much attention to any of it. Jarvis kept track of any relevant piece of information, and alerted Tony every once in a while.
One such instance was when there was a high-speed chase through the streets of DC, involving Rogers and some masked guy. Not too long after that, Tony got a call from Fury asking for his help.
“Consulting hours are between 9 to 5 every other Tuesday,” Tony replied, not really interested in whatever was going on.
“Rogers has become a loose cannon,” Fury said.
“And that’s my problem how exactly?”
He could practically hear Fury grinding his teeth through the line. “He wants to take down Hydra.”
“Yeah, so? I thought the Feds were on it.” That was what Jarvis had told him. The Feds had a lot of people arrested for suspicion of criminal conspiracy, murder, extortion and a whole lot of other crimes. Tony had no idea whether those suspects were SHIELD or Hydra, and he didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, they were pretty much the same.
“Rogers doesn’t trust the system. And, frankly, neither do I.”
“Of course not. After all, you can’t do whatever you want with the system,” Tony retorted. And now he was losing patience. “Again, what’s that got to do with me?”
“He’s out of control. He needs to be stopped before more people get hurt.”
“You’re the one who dug him out of the ice and told him he could be a hero, Fury. You put him in charge of the Avengers. And don’t you just love the irony here? I’m not recommended, but the legendary hero is the one going rogue.” Tony smirked, even though Fury couldn’t see him.
There was a heavy sigh. “Okay, you want me to admit it? All right. I was wrong. I handled things wrong with you. But at the end of the day, we both want the same thing.”
“Oh, I doubt that very much.”
“If I thought the police or the FBI could deal with it, I wouldn’t be asking for your help.”
“But that’s the thing you don’t seem to get, Fury. You have no jurisdiction here, no authority. If the cops or the Feds want my help, they know where to find me. You – and SHIELD – are done. Your days of calling the shots are over.” The silence that followed that statement was pretty loaded, but Tony ignored it. When nothing more was said, Tony hung up.
Rogers and Romanoff did go on a short rampage looking for the masked guy, but fortunately caused no deaths. Hydra’s murder plot was uncovered without any help from them, and most of the people involved were arrested. Rogers wasn’t one of them only because locking up Captain America was bad for the government’s image.
SHIELD was pretty much shut down. Those who were cleared of criminal activity either joined other agencies or retired. The rest had to answer for their actions in court. Fury was reportedly killed in a confrontation with the masked man – an assassin known as the Winter Soldier – though Tony wasn’t sure he believed that. It would be just like Fury to fake his death to weasel his way out of trouble.
Tony didn’t hear from Rogers or Romanoff again for months. He got together with Bruce from time to time to talk science, and that was it.
Until the dynamic due showed up to talk to him about tracking down some of the alien weapons left behind from the invasion that Hydra had stolen. Tony wasn’t sure how Romanoff had stayed out of prison, really.
“We need to assemble the Avengers again,” Rogers said.
Tony could only stare. “You’re joking, right? Even if that was the case, why are you talking to me? I’m not an Avenger, nor do I want to be. I believe I have made that clear. Multiple times, in fact.”
Rogers clenched his jaw. “There’s more at stake here than your ego, Stark. Those weapons could be very dangerous in the wrong hands.”
“I know that, which is why they have been collected and stored in secure facilities.”
“Not all of them,” Romanoff said.
“Even if that’s true, it’s not your jurisdiction. There is no Avengers. Contact the relevant authorities and let them handle it. And it’s clearly not my ego at stake here. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an actual job to get back to.”
A few weeks later, Tony got a call from a Colonel Horton from the Department of Defense about reforming the Avengers. Tony wasn’t really all that enthused with the idea, but agreed to attend a meeting to discuss the possibility. He didn’t know what strings Rogers and Romanoff had pulled to get anyone to give them another chance, yet there they were looking smug. Barton was slouched in his chair like a sulky child, and Bruce was sitting by himself looking uncomfortable. The biggest surprise, however, was Thor.
“Back already?” Tony asked.
“Aye. I have received a warning from Heimdall. The people who have stolen the Chitauri weapons are dangerous and need to be stopped.”
Tony sighed, and realized he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this without looking like an asshole.
“All right, fine. But I’m only agreeing to this one project.”
While the suits were hashing out the details of the Avengers team, the six of them went to the location where Romanoff’s sources had indicated the remnants of Hydra were holed up – somewhere in a small country called Sokovia that Tony had never even heard of.
The base guards were no match for the (ugh) Avengers, and Tony took down the force field easily enough to get inside. Hydra was building something big here, apparently, and Tony had to reluctantly admit that maybe this did warrant his involvement.
There was a glowing cube, a bit like the Tesseract but a more brownish color, on the table – along with some sort of knockoff Iron Man suit –, and Tony reached for it. Then he was suddenly out in space, surrounded by an alien armada. He saw Earth being bombarded from orbit, looking small and helpless.
“NO!” he yelled, and found himself back in the bunker, breathing hard. He blinked and tried to get his bearings. What the hell was that?
“There seems to be an enhanced agent here,” Barton said through the comms. “A really fast guy.”
Tony shook himself and refocused. “I’ve got the weapons, and some sort of cube. Let’s wrap this up.”
Later, they learned about the two enhanced – twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff – who had been the subject of some kind of experiment with the alien artifacts. As a result, they got powers, though what those were exactly was not clear. Unfortunately, they managed to evade capture. Tony didn’t like it, but the military guys running the mission (Steve had been really pissed when he realized he was not in charge any more) told them to get back to base; the twins would be captured later.
Tony didn’t want to leave the cube out of his sight, and almost picked a fight with the officer who showed up to take it.
“Mr Stark, please,” the man said. “The artifact will be secure.”
“Sir,” Jarvis said, speaking from the suit. “I am detecting anomalous reading from you. The suit’s sensors are not enough to precise what the problem is. I suggest you return to New York immediately for a more thorough scan.”
Bruce was watching him warily. “Yeah, Tony. You seem a bit off.”
“Do I?” Tony took a deep breath. His chest did feel a little tight. And… There had been something in that bunker, right? Something… He saw something. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” He let go of the case with the cube. “Sorry,” the told the soldier.
“No problem, Mr Stark.”
Using the technology in the Tower, Jarvis was able to identify some energy residue inside Tony. It was faint, and Jarvis didn’t know what it was, but Tony agreed to be monitored.
It turned out to be a good thing, because he got more and more restless and manic as time passed. Jarvis locked down the workshop after Tony almost set himself on fire by tinkering with stuff without the proper precautions.
Bruce stayed at the Tower to help him figure out what was going on, and Tony found himself grateful for the company. Bruce was cool.
The rest of the so-called Avengers came by a few days later, when Tony’s anxiety had finally lessened, wanting to talk about their next move.
“Look, I said I would do this one thing. It’s done, so I’m out. You got the government backing you now, so you don’t need me anymore.”
Rogers looked like he’d sucked on a lemon as he said, “They won’t give us the green light for anything outside the US if you’re not on the team.”
“So? Keep to the US.”
“Come on, Stark,” Romanoff said. “You want to play hero. Isn’t that why you became Iron Man?”
“Wow, you really don’t know shit about me, do you? I shouldn’t be surprised, really, after that bullshit report you wrote. Think what you want, I’m not joining your stupid team.”
“Why not?” Barton asked, arms crossed over his chest.
“Because I don’t trust you. Any of you – well, except Bruce.” The man in question gave him a timid smile. “Because I don’t see why we even need a fucking team. Because I have a job. Because I have a life. Take your pick. Good bye.”
It would have been great if that had been the end of it, but Rogers was too fucking stubborn (and stupid) for his own good. Colonel Horton called him again for another meeting, and Tony wasn’t able to say no (well, he could have, but he didn’t want to be a dick over the phone).
When Tony walked into the meeting room, he had another unpleasant surprised: the Maximoff twins were there.
“What the fuck are they doing here?” As the words were leaving his mouth, he activated the emergency beacon for the suit and made sure Jarvis was recording everything.
“They came to us,” Rogers said. “Told us how they were tricked by Hydra. They want to be part of the Avengers now.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Thor shrugged, seemingly unbothered one way or the other. Bruce was once again standing in the corner wishing he was anywhere but here. Rogers, Romanoff and Barton were smiling, as if this was the best idea ever.
“So, a couple of weeks ago these guys were trying to kill us, but now they’ve changed their minds because…?” he trailed off, gesturing for some kind of explanation.
“We realized Hydra wasn’t what we wanted,” Wanda said. “They lied to us. Told us they could help us, but they didn’t.”
Tony snorted. “Oh, cry me a river.”
“We lost our parents when we were 10, you know,” Pietro said. “We were just home having breakfast one day, and a bomb fell on our house. Our parents were killed instantly, but we…”
“One of the bombs didn’t go off,” Wanda continued. “So we stayed there, trapped in the rubble of our house, waiting for the explosion that would kill us too.”
“For two days we stared at that bomb. Do you know what it said?”
Wanda took a step forward. “It said Stark Industries.” Her hands began to glow red. “It’s your fault. You killed our parents. You destroyed our lives.” Then a blast of energy was coming at Tony.
The suit was there, however, having crashed through the window, encasing him before he was hit.
“Sir, this is the same energy pattern detected at the bunker,” Jarvis said while Tony dodged another blast.
Thor had managed to pin Pietro down with Mjolnir, and the kid was cursing up a storm. Wanda was still attacking Tony, and he shot her with a repulsor on the highest non-lethal setting. While she was down, he cuffed her hands together behind her arms.
“My god, what the hell is wrong with you people?” Tony told her, looking down on her with contempt. “Was that little story supposed to be your reason for joining Hydra? For wanting me dead? Dear god, you’re insane. I don’t know what you’ve been smoking all these years, but what happened to you, as tragic as it was, has nothing to do with me. I guess I have to state the obvious and tell you that just because something has my name on it, doesn’t mean I actually put it there. I made weapons and I sold them – which is a legal business. I have never had any say in what those weapons were used for. And that’s if it even was a legitimate SI bomb, which is doubtful, given that it was apparently faulty. So, congratulations, you’ve just wasted you lives seeking revenge on the wrong guy because you are clearly too dumb for even basic reasoning.”
He ignored the curses the twins were still spewing as the officers swarmed the room to take the terrorists into custody.
“And you,” Tony said, turning to the SHIELD trio. “Congratulations as well. You’ve just allowed a couple of terrorists into a military facility. Did you actually believe that stupid line about how they had seen the error of their ways? Or were you in on the murder attempt?”
Barton went a little pale. “I didn’t know anything about any murder.”
“Jarvis also tells me that it was little miss sob story there who did whatever to me back in the bunker. Guess she got tired of waiting for me to die on my own and convinced you suckers to give her a chance to get it done face to face, huh? And you wonder why I don’t want to be on this team.” Tony shook his head. “If you three come near me again, I promise you I will make your lives hell.”
“Stark, this is not…” Rogers began. “We didn’t know this was going to happen.”
“Okay, maybe you didn’t. I still don’t want you anywhere near me.”
After that, the Avengers Initiative was well and truly buried. Rogers and Romanoff lost what little credibility they had left, and even the most die-hard Cap fan in the army wasn’t willing to support them anymore. Thor went back to Asgard with all the alien crap they had collected. Barton retired and disappeared. Bruce finally accepted Tony’s job offer and moved into a little apartment not far from the Tower.
The Maximoffs were deported back to Sokovia and died in prison after a few months due to side effects of the experiments that had given them their powers; their hearts simply gave out one day.
Tony went on with his life. More enhanced people began cropping up after a while all over the world, and the UN eventually decided to form an international team, operating under the newly created Superhero Accords. This time Tony joined happily.
(AN: The cube that gave the Maximoff powers was just a piece of alien junk; let’s say they already had the potential, the thing just brought it to the surface – and then messed them up inside. Karma is a bitch. Also, this is now the longest snippet, with 6459 words.)